Thursday, October 16, 2008

Rae Spoon-ful of sorrow

Listening to the opening tracks of superioryouareinferior, it comes as no surprise that Rae Spoon hails from the Canadian prairies. They carry the weight of melancholy vastness that's hard to fake. Even when the fire gets stoked up with some electric grumblings towards the end of the second track My Heart Is A Piece Of Garbage. Fight Seagulls! Fight! (looking at the track listing makes one prepare to listen to a Sufjan Stevens album), it's a hollow anger that seems insufficient to stand beneath its own weight.

The third track, Come On Forest Fire Burn The Disco Down, maintains a heavy guitar line that almost taunts the very target it seeks to ignite (listen below). The volume fades away though over the next few tracks, revisiting the aura of the openers, but an electronic element creeps in, much more subtle in its presence than the loud guitar lines. Wrapping up the album is a solo by Rae, Strength From Within, a mournfully beautiful number that leaves ones emotions searching for answers. Much like, in fact, the rest of the album.